Page 138 of Exiled Heir

“We’ll start with the Jennings family,” Cade said decisively, striding for the door.

“I already tried talking to them,” I said. “They were pretty tight-lipped.”

“You were not their prince,” Cade said.

“It sounds like you weren’t either,” I said. “So try to go in with a little bit less sound and fury, okay?”

Cade glared at me but then nodded once. When we walked outside, he waved his hands in a familiar circular pattern, enveloping us in his magic. Only this wasn’t normal. This wasn’t the dark black I was used to but a pale gray, flickering in and out of existence before depositing us in front of a massive white house.

“Should we go shake some trees?” I asked.

“When you say that rotten fruit will drop, I hope you don’t mean literally. I haven’t had breakfast yet.” Cade opened the gate, but I nudged him aside.

I strode up the walk first, putting myself between him and the door. When I raised my hand, pounding on the solid door, it swung open. Inside, the house was empty.

Raising an eyebrow, I said, “Traps?”

Cade reached out with his hand, and I saw the thinnest tendril of magic extend. I wanted to yank off his shirt, see how many tattoos were left on his chest, but I let him move first. He walked into the house, following the tendril of magic.

Everything had been cleaned out. Nothing was left, no furniture, no clothing. They had planned their escape well.

Something crunched under my foot, and I bent to pick it up. It was a small rock, slightly larger than a pebble. When I looked for the planter it must have gone in, I couldn’t find it. Rubbing it between my fingers, I shoved it into my pocket and caught up with Cade.

As we reached the living room, Cade pulled up short, and I didn’t hesitate before throwing myself in front of him again. On the wall, in red, someone had written the word MURDERER.

Cade pushed me aside and huffed out a furious breath. “Theywere the ones behind this?”

“You don’t know that—”

Cade waved away my uncertainty. “No wonder Trish insisted on accompanying me. No wonder she was so desperate to speak to me alone. She needed to be there to activate the spellwork!”

He strode forward, throwing both hands at the wall. I shielded my face, expecting a massive explosion, and nothing happened.

After a moment, I looked past my hand and saw Cade panting, gasping for air. He leaned both hands on his knees, his face ashen. Nothing had happened to the wall.

When Cade had gotten upset, he’d shattered a window without thought, without intention. He’d clearly meant for the wall to take the brunt of his anger, and instead, he’d exposed himself.

“Cade?” I raised an eyebrow. “You’re low on magic.”

“Yes.” He pushed himself up, pressing a palm to his chest, and I could smell the terror radiating off him.

“When they cut the magic from you to save your life, it was a lot of magic?” I spoke slowly, trying to work out the details based on the subtle twitch of his cheek, the way his eyes cut to me. “They cut off most of your magic.”

“Yes.” He stopped himself from saying more, and I reached out to his shoulder, squeezing tightly. “I woke feeling like I was missing my own body. Every sense dampened, every ounce of power gone. Imagine waking and realizing that your arm was just… gone. Can you imagine?”

I nodded slowly, even though I wasn’t sure I could. Even when my wolf had been cut off from me, I had always known it was still there. Yes, out of reach, but it had never been fully gone.

“They said it might affect your mind, it might break you,” I said.

“Do I look broken?” Cade strode to the wall, pushing his hands against it. Tattoos slowly crawled over his palms and then up. They melted the word MURDERER until it was unrecognizable.

When he turned to look at me, I realized his question was honest. I skimmed my eyes over his face, letting myself linger on his gaze. “I think you let yourself believe you were broken for too long. I don’t think even this could break you.”

Cade inhaled sharply, then looked away. “You have too much faith in me.”

I chuckled. “That’s my line.”

“Maybe we just have faith in each other,” Cade said.